The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales
Give it 5 hours
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 3 reviews are negative (30%); after 7h it's 1 in 20 (5%).
- 44% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Drop of Infinity” (Complete book 1) and “The Spark of a Hammer” (Complete book 2): from 90% to 66% of starters.
- Only 64% of owners have even the first achievement — the rest barely played.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 2,876 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 299 reviews: 7.7h for positive, 3.8h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (63.9% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Drop of Infinity Complete book 1 90% −10
- The Spark of a Hammer Complete book 2 Most players quit here 66% −24
- The Kornelius Paradox Complete book 3 53% −13
- Black River Drifters Complete book 4 48% −5
- Timeless Mansion Complete book 5 46% −2
- Heart of Sand Complete book 6 45% −1
- The Mastermind Complete book 7 44%
- Happily Ever After Complete the epilogue 44%
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (37)
story milestone ending side
- Alternate Solution Use 5 items in dialogues 100%
- Drop of Infinity Complete book 1 90%
- Your Shield, My Liege Obtain a new skill 88%
- No Time For Words Use 20 items in dialogues 78%
- Crafty Craft 5 items 69%
- Divide (and Conquer) Leave half of the potion to the alchemist 68%
- Kleptoparasitism Steal food from the fridge 67%
- The Spark of a Hammer Complete book 2 66%
- Plot Twist Use ink in dialogues 5 times 58%
- The Kornelius Paradox Complete book 3 53%
- Portrait of the Fat Gentleman Find a room behind a portrait 52%
- Plagiarism Drain 500 ink from enemies 52%
- Black River Drifters Complete book 4 48%
- Deconstruction Dismantle objects for a total of 1000 ink 47%
- Audio Chronicle Listen to all tape recordings 47%
- Timeless Mansion Complete book 5 46%
- Brick, No Mortar Put your trust in a bag of bricks 45%
- Heart of Sand Complete book 6 45%
- The Mastermind Complete book 7 44%
- Happily Ever After Complete the epilogue 44%
- Streikbrecher Defeat the enraged crowd 42%
- Innovator Craft 20 items 41%
- Strive For Perfection Upgrade your skills 5 times 40%
- Secrets Beneath Access the abandoned apartment on the first floor 39%
- All or Nothing Take alchemist's potion 33%
- Treasures of Days Past Find robot's hiddent treasure 27%
- Clay Pigeon Shooting Shoot from a turret 26%
- Keymaster Return keys to the neighbour 23%
- Fight the Establishment Defeat both cops without taking any damage 20%
- Pen Pals Find all clockmaker's letters 20%
- Pacifist By Day, Utilitarianist By Night Avoid all fights in factory 16%
- A Change of Heart Save the computer science teacher after deceiving him 12%
- Sticks and Stones Won't Break My Bones Block 50 damage 11%
- Luddite Complete book 7 without using any artefacts 5.8%
- Jack of All Trades Use every artefact from the book 7 5.0%
- Write Your Story Use ink in dialogues 20 times 4.9%
- Relentless Warrior Win all existing fights 4.7%